


Unavoidable You

by Bjorgman



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, bethyl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-02-20 04:30:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2414987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bjorgman/pseuds/Bjorgman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beth Greene finds herself drawn to a man she has never met. He is also the only outlet she has to vent about the one man she cannot stand: Daryl Dixon. What if her mystery online stranger is closer to the man she hates than she ever realised? </p><p> </p><p>Or, I have spent far too much time reading Bethyl fics whilst watching You've Got Mail and this somehow made sense in my head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grade A Douchebag

Beth huffed out a breath as she glared at the man opposite her. He knew, he _knew_ , how much she hated it when he got asked to stay for meals at her parents' house. He knew she hated it when he chose the seat directly opposite her, knew she hated the way he sucked his greasy fingers, releasing each one with a noisy pop of his lips, and he definitely knew she hated it when he “accidentally” kicked her under the table. She jumped as his booted foot made contact with her shin, not hard, but just enough to make her jump, just enough to infuriate her. She scowled at him and he responded with a smirk.

Daryl Dixon was her brother's best friend and the bane of her existence. She couldn't remember when, exactly, (although she could remember what had started him on that path) he had become the bane of her life but he had been her brother's friend forever, as far back as she could remember. She hadn't always hated him, at one point she had thought they maybe they were on their way to becoming...  _something_ ... But that had come to an abrupt end and was replaced by a wild hate, a rage that simmered under the surface whenever she was near him. 

She rolled her eyes at him and looked down, concentrating on her food instead of the ridiculously irritating man sitting opposite her.

Beth knew that her mom invited Daryl to stay as a way of getting them to like each other again. Her mother had always had it in her head that she and Daryl were perfect for each other but Beth felt that the more often he was invited to stay, the more she couldn't stand to be near him. Shawn found it hilarious when Daryl would wind Beth up and make her uncomfortable at the table. She felt his foot hit her shin again and she closed her eyes willing herself to not hop over the table and throttle him. She took in a deep breath and heard him snicker. Her eyes flew open and locked with his. Daryl raised an eyebrow at her, as if daring her to say something, as he popped a piece of food in his mouth. Beth smiled at him sweetly as her foot connected with his shin. Hard. Daryl jumped, pushing his chair back from the table. He coughed on his food as he tried to shout at the pain in his leg and doubled over, his head between his knees as he spluttered and coughed. Shawn frowned at Beth while patting Daryl on the back but she just kept her face blank as she shrugged at her brother. Annette reached for the water jug on the table, refilling Daryl's glass and handing it to him when he was finally upright again. Beth smirked when she saw him rubbing at his shin.

“You OK, Daryl, honey?” Annette was frowning t Daryl, concern all over her face. Daryl scowled at Beth before turning to nod at Annette.

“Yeah, thanks, 'Nette. Just went down the wrong way, I guess.” He glared at Beth again and she sucked her lips in, willing herself not to laugh.

Yes, Daryl Dixon was the bane of her existence. But she could be the bane of his too.

* * *

 

Shawn raised his eyebrows at Daryl as his best friend limped in to the room and flopped down into the armchair in the corner. He winced as he rolled up the leg of his pants and revealed a bruise forming on his shin. He scowled at it before dropping his pants leg and looking at his friend evenly.

“Yer damn sister kicked me in the leg.” He grumbled causing Shawn to laugh.

“Well, payback's a bitch, Dixon.” Daryl opened his mouth to answer but Shawn cut him off. “Don't tell me you didn't start it.”

“Didn't kick her as hard as she kicked me. Was barely even a tap.” He scowled again and cursed himself for sounding like a petulant child. He supposed Shawn was right and he _had_ started it but he wouldn't have done it if he had known she would kick him back. He was a bit mad that he had barely touched her with his foot and now he was the one that would be left with a bruise.

“I dunno why you do it, Daryl. Purposely winding her up. You know, one of these days Beth's just gonna punch ya square in the face.” Shawn laughed at the thought of his younger sister, blonde and petite, punching Daryl Dixon in the face.

He had always been closer with Beth than he was with Maggie even though, at 7 years older than Beth, he was closer to Maggie's age, he and Beth were always the “well-behaved” children, while Maggie was a party animal. He, Beth and Daryl used to have great times together, and at one point he thought he was gonna have to talk to Daryl about his intentions towards his younger sister, but then that had all changed one weekend when he had gone away and returned to find Beth not talking to Daryl and Daryl trying his hardest to pretend he wasn't bothered by the fact that the youngest Greene girl was giving him the cold shoulder. Shawn knew better than to ask what had gone on (mostly because he was scared that it had something to do with something that he really didn't want to think about his baby sister doing) and had assumed it would all blow over. But that was a year ago and the rift between them had only grown, made worse by Daryl constantly trying to annoy Beth when he was round their house. Which, unfortunately for Beth, was almost every day. Shawn sometimes wondered if maybe he should step in, stop Daryl in his torment from his sister, but if tonight was anything to go by, Beth Greene gave as good as she got.

“Don't think Beth's got it in her to punch me in the face.” Daryl didn't sound convinced by his own words and Shawn almost laughed at the anxious look on his face.

“Dixon, are you-” Shawn burst out laughing and struggled to get his sentence out. “Are you scared of my baby sister?”

“What? NO! No.” Daryl sounded affronted. “Don't be stupid. 'Course I ain't. I ain't afraid o'nothing, remember? She's just your kid sister and I can't stand her, is all.”

Shawn raised a eyebrow at his friend. He knew Daryl well and could tell when he was lying. Which is why he found it so interesting that Daryl wasn't telling the truth about how he felt about Beth.

* * *

 

Beth sighed to herself as she lay back on her bed. She was glad that Daryl had finally left, just knowing he was in her house put her on edge. She tried to make herself as scarce as possible while he was here but he sometimes sought her out just so he could inflict her with whatever brand of torture he had come up with that day. She rolled on to her stomach and looked at her clock. Ten minutes until her date. Well, if you could even it a date. More of a rendezvous. With someone she had never met. Beth closed her eyes and groaned. She knew it was a bit weird that she felt like she connected with this guy, that she actually liked him, when she didn't even know his name. She had been talking to him online for 6 months ever since they had met in a public chat room about music and they shared a lot of interests and Beth found him funny. He had never expressed any desire to meet her and Beth didn't want to be the first one to broach the subject so she left it as it was, just an innocent online romance. He had never sent her a picture so she had never sent one to him. Maggie, who was the only person who knew about Beth's little secret, said that she should ask him for one because “he might be a psycho killer, Beth”. Beth pointed out that they still wouldn't know if he was a psycho killer even if they saw a picture of him but Maggie said she was merely trying to point out that he may not be who he says he is. Beth rolled herself over, letting her feet touch the floor as she pushed off the bed. She grabbed her laptop and sat at her desk, waiting for it to power up. She clicked on the icon for her chat messenger and opened it up. She saw that he was already there and her heart beat faster as the little box popped up with his message.

 

hunterguy: Hey

musicismylife: Hi you :)

hunterguy: Hows your day been?

musicismylife: Pretty crappy to be honest! Had to deal with a grade A douche-bag. How about yours?

hunterguy: Not too bad, just hung out with my buddy. Wished I was here talking to you though.

musicismylife: Aw, that's sweet. I thought about you today too, would definitely have rather been talking to you than dealing with a complete jerk.

hunterguy: Well, why don't I give you my number and then you can text me or whatever whenever you want?

musicismylife: I'd like that

 

Beth excitedly tapped the number into her phone her phone and saved the contact as hunterguy (she really should ask him his name at some point, although she doubted he would tell her).

 

hunterguy: I'm gonna have to cut it short tonight, I have work early tomorrow. I'd love to stay here and chat with you but bills don't pay themselves.

musicismylife: That's OK, I have work early tomorrow too. I guess I could always text you though. I'll send you my number in a minute. Goodnight :)

hunterguy: Night, beautiful x

hunterguy has signed out.

 

Beth smiled to herself, knowing that it was silly to be pleased that someone who had no idea what she looked like told her she was beautiful. She pulled up her name in his phone and sent a quick text saying goodnight to him and signing it with her online username. She plugged her phone in and drifted off to sleep, wondering what her mystery man looked like.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Daryl grimaced as he pulled up to the Greene house. He could see Beth sitting on the front porch with her friend Melody next to her. They were laughing, Beth had her head thrown back an her hair was glowing in the sunlight, as Melody talked animatedly next to her.

He knew the exact moment that Beth noticed him, he recognised the way her shoulders tensed, the smile dropping from her face as she glared at him. He took a deep breath to steel himself before adopting his trademark smirk as he flung his leg over his bike. He sauntered (maybe a little bit on purpose) up to the house and winked at Melody who blushed and giggled. Beth rolled her eyes at her friend before turning to glare at Daryl again.

“Afternoon, Greene.” Daryl grinned at her obvious annoyance. “Your brother about?”

“SHAWN!” Beth didn't answer Daryl, instead turning her head towards the house and shouting for her brother. “DIXON IS HERE.”

Daryl frowned. For some reason, which he didn't want to think about, it bothered him when Beth called him Dixon. He liked it when she called him Daryl, liked the way his name sounded in her southern lilt. She shot a him a quick smirk while narrowing her eyes at him before turning back to her friend and walking toward the swinging bench on the porch. Beth flopped herself down in it and watched through slitted eyes as Melody twirled her hair around her index finger and smiled up at Daryl. He was completely oblivious, which was one of the things that annoyed Beth most about Daryl. He always seemed to have girls giving him the eye and yet he never noticed. She watched him and didn't miss the mischievous grin that split across his face as his eyes flicked towards the empty the empty seat on the swing and before Beth could open her mouth to call Melody over to sit in it, Daryl was across the porch and standing in front of her, his grin widening as he sat down next to her and began swinging the bench rapidly back and forth. Beth turned to glare at him again (God, she was surprised her face hadn't stuck that way) and fought the urge to smack him when his arm extended along the length of the back rest, his fingertips brushing her shoulder. He winked at her before turning his attention to Melody.

“So, Melody, remind me again why you're friends with Grouchy Greene over here?” He gestured towards Beth with a jerk of his head.

“Daryl Dixon!” Melody scolded him playfully and Beth rolled her eyes as the giggling started again. “She's only grouchy 'round you, anyhow.”

Daryl frowned for a minute and before Beth even had a chance to wonder what it meant, the frown was gone and Daryl was throwing his head back and laughing. Loudly. Beth found herself scowling at him before directing the look at her friend. This just made Daryl laugh harder.

“Can't imagine why.” Beth grumbled as she stood and moved towards the front door. She pushed it open again and yelled. “Shawn! Will you get down here and claim your friend before I strangle him with his stupid bandanna!”

Daryl took the bandanna from his back pocket and held it away from Beth. He smirked at her as she shook her head, looking thoroughly exasperated.

“Now, that's a low blow, right there, Greene. Threatening to kill a man with his own possessions. I thought better of you.” Beth growled as Melody resumed her giggling (seriously, what a traitor) just as Shawn stepped out the house and clapped Daryl on the back. Beth surged forward, grabbing Melody by the wrist as she dragged her down the steps of the porch, heading towards the lake. She tried to ignore Daryl's loud laughter but she was sure she could still hear it even when she was 2 miles away from him and he had no long stopped laughing.

* * *

 

Shawn shook his head as he watched his sister making her way back up to the house. She'd obviously fallen in the lake again. He honestly didn't know how his sister always managed to find the one spot near the lake with a seemingly invisible rock on the ground causing her trip and fall, usually face first, in to the water. He could tell by the look on Beth's face that she was not gonna be in the mood for dealing with Daryl Dixon, which was exactly what she was gonna have to do in about 30 seconds. Now that she was closer to the house he could see that he was definitely right about her having fallen in to the lake – her blonde hair was dripping and her white t-shirt was now see through. He grimaced at that, he definitely had no need to see his sister's boobs. And he definitely didn't want Daryl to make some comment about them either. He turned back to his friend who was sitting at the kitchen table, shovelling down Annette's home made cookies.

“Hey, Daryl, why don't we, uh, go watch the TV or something?” Shawn's eyes flitted nervously between Daryl and the door. The door which Beth would be walking through in about 5 seconds. Daryl narrowed his eyes at Shawn then turned his eyes towards the door before he smiled, seeming to catch on that Shawn wanted him out of the kitchen for some reason. And he had a feeling that that reason was about to walk through the door. Daryl leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head just as the flew open, rattling on it's hinges as it slammed against the wall. Beth walked in, dripping water all over the kitchen floor and Daryl knew exactly what had happened and why Shawn was so eager to get him out of the kitchen. He couldn't help but let his eye's rove over her wet body appreciatively. Daryl licked his lips as he admired her then flicked his eyes up to her face and she she had a quizzical look on her face. Shit. He'd been caught. He tried to smirk at her but it felt unconvincing even to him so he went to what he knew best.

“Bit nippy out there, is it, Little Greene?” He nodded his head towards her wet t-shirt and silently thanked every god he could think of that Beth Greene wasn't wearing a bra. She quickly crossed her arms in front of her chest and made a very undignified noise as she stomped up the stairs. For the second time that day, the sound of Daryl Dixon's laughter followed along behind her.

* * *

 

musicismylife: you there? i've had the worst day!

 

hunterguy: yeah, i'm here. anything i can do?

 

musicismylife: just to talk to me... how was your day?

 

hunterguy: i dunno, weird i guess. but not bad. hung out with my friend again. listen... i've been thinking...

 

Beth stared at the screen. Oh God. He was gonna tell her that he didn't wanna talk to her any more. She'd spent months talking to this guy about everything and nothing. She wasn't sure what exactly this was but Beth felt something for him on some level, some connection that she couldn't explain.

 

hunterguy: do you think we should meet?

 


	3. Eyeful of the girls

Daryl held his breath as he stared at the screen in front of him. He knew there was a chance she could say no, a chance that she wasn't even a  _she_ , that he'd been talking to someone who wasn't what they said for the last few months, but he decided after letting his eyes trail over Beth Greene's body that enough was enough and he needs to move on.

He likes this girl well enough, has a lot in common with her and enjoys talking to her, but somewhere in the recesses of his mind he can't help thinking about what might have been with him and Beth.

He thought that things had been going great with her and, the weekend Shawn was out of town, he had asked her out to the bar, hoping he knew that was his way of asking her on a casual date. She'd seemed happy enough that he'd asked, had agreed to meet him there and Daryl had found himself jiggling his leg nervously at the bar a good half an hour before she was due to show up. Except she never did. Daryl waited until 2 hours had passed before he gave up. And the next time he saw Beth Greene, she was giving him the cold shoulder like  _she_  was the one that had been jilted. Daryl had made it his mission after that to purposely annoy his best friend's sister, the perfect way to hide his heartache at her spiteful rejection.

Daryl averted his eyes back to the screen to where it indicated that musicismylife was typing. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the answer to appear. He opened his eyes then let out a sigh.

_musicismylife is now offline._

So much for not being rejected anymore. Daryl knew that it was a long shot, they had only been talking for a few months and had no idea what the other looked like but they definitely had a connection. He closed his laptop with a sigh and crawled into bed, images of faceless girls and Beth Greene swimming around in his mind until sleep claimed him.

* * *

Beth stared at the last message she had received from her hunterguy. She knew she didn't really have the right to call him hers, especially after successfully ignoring his request to meet last night. Beth knew that she needed to move on in her life, that there had been no one she was remotely interested in since Daryl, but the thought of meeting someone she barely knew, who she had met online, didn't quite sit right with her. And besides, if Daryl Dixon found out that she had met someone online, she'd never hear the end of it. She stared at the message from last night for another minute before shaking her head and scolding herself mentally. This didn't mean that they had to stop talking, she would just tell him that she wasn't ready to meet yet.

Beth was getting herself ready for the day when she heard the tell-tale rumble of Daryl's motorbike heading towards the farm. She closed her eyes and threw her head back, sighing to the ceiling and praying for patience. She wasn't sure she could handle Daryl's teasing remarks today, especially not with the way she had been feeling since last night, dreaming of meeting her mystery guy, only he looked exactly like Daryl. Beth took her time getting herself ready, hoping that Daryl would be gone by the time she was done. Instead, Melody arrived before Beth was even downstairs and worse than Daryl's teasing was listening to him flirt with her friend. She could hear Melody giggling on the front porch and rolled her eyes at the transparency of her friend. She loved Melody but it was times like these when she wished she was a little less effected by Daryl Dixon's charms. Beth ran down the stairs, hoping that Melody was ready to just leave immediately. She swung through the front door on to the porch where Daryl was leaning casually on the railing while Melody pushed herself softly in the swing, fingers twirling in her hair. Beth rolled her eyes again and wondered briefly if it was possible for them to roll straight out of her head.

"Mel! You ready?" Beth tried not to let her irritation show at her friend openly flirting with her nemesis on the front porch of her house.

"What?" Melody turned to look at Beth, blinking a couple of times before she processed what had been said. "Oh, uh, yeah, I mean, we could just stay her, if you want."

Beth fought the urge to roll her eyes for a third time as her friend's gaze slid longingly back to Daryl who was now smirking at Beth with his arms across his chest. Beth pointedly ignored the way his biceps looked and silently cursed the man for never wearing anything with sleeves.

"Yeah, Greene, why don't you and Melody here stay at the farm today. Y'know, me an' Shawn was gonna go work up a sweat fixing that tractor that yer old man's been whining about." Daryl raised an eyebrow at Beth as his smirk grew and Melody's eyes widened, turning to Beth with an almost pleading look in her eyes.

"Nope. Sorry. Goin' swimmin' at the lake. Come  _on_ , Mel!" Beth started down the steps of the front porch, ignoring the sigh of defeat from her best friend. Beth stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned back to look at Melody who was smiling shyly at something Daryl had said. Daryl turned his gaze on Beth, smirking when he realised she had seen the exchange, like it was all for her benefit.

"Try not to fall in today, Greene." He shouted after her as she moved away from the house, Melody trailing along behind her. "Wouldn't want you givin' everyone another eyeful of the girls."

Beth stuck her middle finger in the air without even looking back and her frown deepened when she heard Daryl's deep laugh. When they were almost at the lake, and Beth had stewed enough over Daryl 'jackass' Dixon, she pulled her phone out of her bag and pulled up hunterguy's number, sending him a short text.

_Sure, I'd love to meet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know it's been super long since I last updated and this is wicked short but I kinda just lost the drive or even the ability to write after Coda and I've only recently gotten back in to the Bethyl fandom. I'm still heartbroken and not even optimistic enough to be on Team D but I've decided that i wouldn't let it ruin my love for this ship. Hopefully, updates will be a bit more frequent now and, with any luck, a little bit longer. If anyone is still reading this then thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> Can you see where I'm going with this? ;)


End file.
